Japanese GP: Red Bull race notes

Starting from sixth on the grid, David Coulthard capitalised on his
qualifying effort and made an excellent start by
diving through the field to make up two places.
Christian also held on well
and, after the first corner, the Red Bull
Racing duo...

Starting from sixth on the grid, David Coulthard capitalised on his
qualifying effort and made an excellent start by
diving through the field to make up two places.

Christian also held on well
and, after the first corner, the Red Bull
Racing duo lay in fourth and fifth place respectively. When pole position
driver Ralf Schumacher made his first pit-
stop, David moved up to third, before briefly leading a Grand Prix for the
second time this season.

While the front-
runners played leapfrog though their differing pit-stop strategies,
Championship leaders Fernando Alonso and Kimi
Raikkonen, who had started 16th and 17th, charged up though the field.

After
a nail-biting finale as the race went
right to the wire, David finished sixth to claim three Championship points,
while his team-mate Christian crossed the
line in ninth.

David Coulthard:

"From the team's point of view, we've got to be satisfied, as there are some
strong teams out
there. I had a good battle with Jenson (Button) in Turn one and our pace was
good at the start. It was only after the
fuel stop I began to struggle. We have to put quite a lot of fuel in our
car, which can upset the balance."

"However, as
more fuel gets burnt off, it improves. It's happened quite often
this year - we put fuel in the car and lose some
performance in the middle stint of the race compared to the others. We were
competitive with Williams all weekend,
and they finished fourth, so, while we'll gratefully take the points, I was
hoping for more."

Christian Klien:

"I had a good start, although the car felt a bit sluggish
off the grid; I'm not sure what caused that. I
was fighting hard with Sato in Turn one; he tried to overtake me, but I
defended my place, although the first ten laps
were difficult. The car felt heavy and my hard tyres made it tricky on the
green track, meaning I lost some time."

"The
Renaults and McLarens were in a different league to us and there was just no
chance to defend from them. The car
improved as the race went on and I began to set faster lap times, but by
then it was too late. I'm not so happy, I
must say. From fourth on the grid you expect a lot more, not really to
finish in ninth position."

Christian Horner, Sporting Director:

"To start sixth and finish sixth is a
solid result, but the potential was there to
beat BAR and Williams today. David led the race briefly prior to his first
stop, but unfortunately the car wasn't quick
enough after it was re-fuelled and he sacrificed some time. We made up
ground later on when David completed an
excellent sequence of laps and went past Schumacher through his final
pit-stop."

"Unfortunately, Christian lost too
much time in the first part of the race. He picked up the pace in the second
but, by then, he'd given up bit too much
ground to the cars ahead and it was another frustrating ninth place finish
for him."

Michael Janes - Cosworth F1 Race Engineering:

"All Cosworth TJ engines
performed faultlessly throughout
the Suzuka GP weekend, the second event for both race engines. We are
obviously very pleased to have assisted
David in his hard-earned points finish and look forward to repeating the
same next weekend in Shanghai."